rollover

Etymology

It is formed from English roll + over, from the phrasal verb roll over,^[2][3][4] also written “roll-over”.^[4] The OED compares the earlier noun “rolling over”.^[2] The verb roll is from Old French roeller (“to roll, wheel round”), from Medieval Latin rotulō, from Latin rotula (“small wheel”), a diminutive of rota (“wheel”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An act of turning over, especially the overturning of a vehicle: 1817, in George Colman's History of Elsmere & Rosa.^[2][3] Etymonline dates the noun to 1945.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Gymnastic movements that turn the body over are called rollovers from 1890.^[2] In American prison slang a roll-over was the last night of a sentence, recorded from 1918.^[5] From the 1940s the word was used of a transfer to a new period or system (1941), and in finance of the extension of a maturing debt (1947) and the reinvestment of money from maturing securities (1961);^[2][6] in Australia it also names an investment in a rollover fund.^[7] In lotteries a rollover is a jackpot carried over to the next draw (1981).^[2] Computing added a keyboard facility that registers rapid keystrokes correctly (1972) and an element of a web page that changes when the pointer is moved over it (1993).^[2] In American criminal slang a rollover is also a confession or plea of guilty (1986),^[5] or an informer.^[8]

Timeline

• 1817 – an act of turning over; the overturning of a vehicle.^[2][3]
• 1890 – a gymnastic movement turning the body over.^[2]
• 1918 – in American prison slang, the last night of a sentence.^[5]
• 1941 – a transfer to a new system or period; an extension.^[2]
• 1947 – the extension of a maturing debt.^[2]
• 1961 – the reinvestment of money from maturing securities.^[2]
• 1972 – in computing, a keyboard facility for rapid typing.^[2]
• 1981 – a lottery jackpot carried over to the next draw.^[2]
• 1986 – in criminal slang, a confession or plea of guilty.^[5]
• 1993 – an element of a web page that changes when the pointer is over it.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An act or instance of rolling over.^[3][6][2]
2. An accident in which a vehicle overturns: The truck's rollover closed the highway for hours.^[3][6][7][2]
3. In finance, the extension or renewal of a maturing loan or debt.^[9][6][7][2]
4. The transfer of funds, such as retirement savings, into a new investment of the same kind, often to defer tax.^[9][6][2]
5. In a lottery, the carrying over of an unwon jackpot to the next draw, or the jackpot so formed.^[2]
6. In computing, an element of a web page that changes when the pointer moves over it.^[2]
7. (slang) An informer, or a confession by one who turns against accomplices.^[8][5]

Related words

• roll

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
6. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c Moore, Bruce, ed. (2004), The Australian Oxford Dictionary, 2nd ed., Melbourne: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge
9. ^ a b Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West